


Because You Are With Me

by IAmStoryteller



Series: Never Practical [8]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics), Batwoman (Comic), Green Arrow (Comics), Shazam (Comics)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 09:12:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3284837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmStoryteller/pseuds/IAmStoryteller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damian and Billy deal with being the last of the heroes.  Kind of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because You Are With Me

“Finally, she’s asleep,” said Billy, exiting their young charge’s room. Four year old Cassiopeia, also known as Cassia, Trevor-Prince was having nightmares again and she refused to go to sleep unless either Billy or Damian stayed with her until she was out like a light. It was a bad habit that Billy and Damian knew that they should not encourage but they did not have the heart to tell the little girl ‘no’, especially if she was scared and upset. Damian nodded.

Fifteen year old Damian was gearing up for evening patrol with the women. Damian had a completely black body suit, the only indication was a dark red bat symbol on his back. He went out as Nightwing, no one would believe him to be Batman, no quite yet. There were a total of four superheroes left in the world.

Damian was Nightwing, soon to be Batman (once he hit a growth spurt). Also fifteen year old Nell Jones was Batgirl, soon to be Batwoman (also waiting for a growth spurt). Lian Harper, the twelve year old daughter of Roy Harper and Jade Nguyen, was Red Arrow. Lastly, there was Billy Batson, seventeen years old, and he was Captain Marvel.

Unfortunately, his powers had been on the fritz since the Rock of Eternity broke (thanks to Darkseid, long story) and he could only access them occasionally. Billy, thus, regulated himself to taking care of the others—Damian, Nell, and Lian, mostly could take care of themselves, but he was usually caring for Cassiopeia, the half-Amazon daughter of Diana, Wonder Woman, and her mortal lover Steve Trevor. Billy really did not mind. Cassia needed someone to look after her, after all.

“The nightmares are intensifying for her. It concerns me,” said Damian, stiffly. He was in a mood this evening. “Father had files on some Amazons, thanks to Wonder Woman, but the powers an Amazon may gain or not is mysterious.”

“So far it’s only memories, things she should not be able to remember. But it would be our luck if Apollo gifted her with powers of a seer,” commented Billy. Eyeing Damian’s outfit for the evening patrol, “And I thought we discussed that Kevlar was to be worn by the certainly not bulletproof Nightwing.”

Damian clicked his tongue in annoyance. “-Ttk-” Billy grabbed the Kevlar that Damian conveniently ‘forgot’ to put on and frowned.

“I refuse to dig another bullet out of your body, Damian, if you don’t put on the damn Kevlar right now,” demanded Billy. Damian glared at him.

“We are only going on reconnaissance tonight, Batson. It won’t be needed,” said Damian, blankly. It was times like these like when Billy had to argue with Nell to please eat something or with Lian to go to sleep for more than two hours a night or for GOD-DAMN Damian Wayne to put on the protective body armor.

Billy glared right back at him. “You and I both know how fast something could go wrong.”

“Do not lecture me,” snapped Damian.

(Nell and Lian entered the room and immediately saw the glaring match between the two stubborn teenagers. They turned and left the room. They did not need to get in the middle of that again.)

After several moments of tense silence, Billy flung the Kevlar at Damian. “Fine, but I wouldn’t know where to begin to explain to Cassia if you didn’t come back home. Or how would Nell and Lian take it? We are all we have. The five of us are a family, no matter what. And we do have a job to do or don’t we? How can we do it without you becoming Batman? So maybe instead of being stupidly reckless, maybe you can learn to care about your well-being because I—we certainly do.” Billy stormed out of living room. He grumbled all the way to his own room.

He left Damian rather annoyed, but equally and properly chastened.

Damian hated that Billy cared so much about him, about this little group of theirs.

Bastard.

_~_~_~_~

Nell was not going to be the one to explain to Billy why Damian had once again gotten shot, this time in the shoulder. Lian and Nell dragged the cursing Nightwing—Damian—to their little secret home (formerly the Cave, the Manor no longer existed). Perhaps, Damian thought about what Billy said, because Damian did wear the chest Kevlar, but none of the other stuff.

Naturally, Damian got shot in the shoulder once the reconnaissance mission turned into a trap laid by Damian’s grandfather R’as al Ghul (the reason why Darkseid was victorious and a majority of the world’s heroes were dead). Nell managed to place Damian on medical table. Lian ran off.

“Don’t get him,” growled Damian. Lian ignored him, wholly.

Nell sighed, as she tried to stop the bleeding. She pressed a little bit too hard.

“Ow, watch it, Jones!”

Moments later Lian was dragging Billy by the hand towards them. Billy had an exasperated look on his face. “Lian, get me some boiled water and the plyers. Nell, get the antiseptic.” Billy took over pressing the cloth to the wound to stop the bleeding somewhat. Lian rushed to the makeshift kitchen and Nell went to the medicine cabinet. 

Nell sighed, as she grabbed the antiseptic. She knew that this would just make Damian and Billy erupt into another argument, which would make everyone on edge—it would surely upset Cassia.

It was, then, that something strange was happening when she turned and instead (like a million times before, it seemed) of Billy berating Damian for being a reckless asshole and Damian snapping back that Billy was not the boss of him and needed to mind his business, Billy was merely pressing gently on the wound, not saying a word. Damian was equally as quiet, but he had a strange look on his face—a grimace. Nell handed Billy the medicine and quietly sat down at the computer seat (Damian didn’t even yell at her to get out of his chair!).

Lian came with a pot of water and the plyers. Billy graced her with a smile. Lian bashfully beamed and joined Nell at the computer, waiting for Billy to finish patching up Damian the best he could, considering the lack of medical experience.

Something changed in this moment.

Nell knew it. 

_~_~_~

Damian awoke from sleep, with a searing pain in his shoulder. He grumbled, as he got out of his bed. Dressed in a black shirt and some sweatpants, he went out to the kitchen area, where Billy was serving breakfast to the girls. He went over and sat in his chair at the head of the table. Pancakes and eggs immediately were placed on his plate (Billy was the only one that knew how to cook). 

Eating, Damian found himself bothered about what happened last night. Billy hadn’t said a word to him about Damian getting shot again. It was not as if Billy was ignoring Damian, it was more like Billy stopped caring…And it really bothered him because he knew it was not true. Billy was just mad at him. It would pass, as it usually did.

“Now, Cassia, if you finish all your food, I’ll make some cookies for a snack later,” said Billy, cutting up Cassia’s food into bite-sized pieces. Cassia’s blue eyes lit up at the thought of cookies. She inherited her mother’s sweet tooth, for certain.

“Can I have some too,” asked Lian, sometimes acting like a twelve year old she was and not a grown woman she was trying to be.

Nell cheered. “Cookies for everyone!”

Billy just laughed. It was usually like this—Billy took care of the cooking, cleaning, buying supplies, and pretty much everything that Alfred used to do for Father and the rest. Nell and Lian were completely incompetent at everything but crime-fighting. Damian tried to help—mostly, he was training Cassia and tutoring her for a proper education (Damian taught her the Classics and Literature, Billy handle everything else, especially history and math).

Damian sighed, trying not to move his shoulder. Training was out of the question for him, but he could train Cassia today.

“Okay, so Nell and Lian, here’s the shopping list and the money for it,” said Billy, handing them both items. “Remember to stick to the list.” Nell and Lian immediately nodded. Billy had survived on the streets for a long time when he was a kid and he knew how to handle not having a limitless supply of money. They were living off of cash that Bruce had stored in the cave (it was 10 million dollars, but considering how much money he actually had, well…it was like a drop in the barrel and it was certainly difficult on Damian, who had always been filthy rich, but he managed).

Once Nell and Lian were off on their chore, Damian stood up. “Cassia’s literature lessons are today.”

“Fine,” said Billy, shortly. Kissing Cassia on the top on her head, “After you eat, clean up and get your books.” Cassia, mouth full of pancakes, gave a syrupy smile. Billy smiled fondly at her. Damian found himself scowling and going to the couch for the mock living room area they set up in the Cave. Cassia, once finished, bolted to the bathroom to clean up.

Damian rubbed his shoulder, grumbling in pain.

“Let me take a look at it,” said Billy, suddenly sitting next to Damian, grabbing Damian’s hand away from the wound. The abruptness of the move startled Damian into jerking his hand away.

“It is fine, Batson,” said Damian.

Billy sighed, “Don’t be difficult, Damian, I just don’t want it to get infected.”

Damian scoffed, but nonetheless ceased being difficult about the matter and let Billy take a look at the wound.

“Just don’t reopen it and I think we’ll be good,” said Billy, re-bandaging the wound. Damian nodded. It still bothered him that Billy wasn’t more concerned with Damian’s well-being.

“Okay, so what’s your problem? You haven’t scolded me yet,” said Damian. 

Billy snorted. “You want me to scold you like a three year old?” 

“No,” said Damian.

Silence followed. Then, Billy said a mysterious thing. “Damian, I think you just like to make me worry about you.”

“I do not,” said Damian, immediately. Billy smiled, softly.

“You are such a liar.”

_~_~_~

“Hey, Nell, do you think Billy and Damian got crushes on each other,” asked Lian, carrying two bags of groceries. They were walking to the car they used (it was average one). Nell nearly dropped her bags.

“What brought that on,” Nell asked, almost stuttering.

The twelve year old Lian shrugged. “I don’t know, they kind of remind me how Uncle Dick and Daddy were, in a way. Like they are with Cassia, like they were her two daddies.” 

Nell had suspected for a year that Damian had been doing stupid things to get Billy’s attention and Billy, no matter what, willing gave that attention (and it was finally confirmed last night), but for Lian to have figured it out, it must becoming more and more obvious.

“Well, maybe, I don’t know, kiddo,” said Nell. “But I bet it will be a long time before either admit it. They are boys, after all.”

Lian smiled. “Yeah, Daddy said that all boys, even him, were pretty stupid about feelings and stuff.”

“Just don’t ask them that.”

“I won’t.”

_~_~_~_

Cassia was in her favorite spot, sitting on the couch between Damian and Billy, listening to Damian reading a book. This one was about the heroes of the Trojan War. Billy was reviewing the work she did yesterday, but still listening to Damian’s voice tell the tale about Achilles, the greatest hero, according to Homer.

“Achilles was a grade-A jerk,” mumbled Billy.

Damian stopped reading. “Agreed, but don’t interrupt.” Damian continued reading. It was funny, sometimes, Cassia really missed her parents, she remembered them a little bit, but when both Damian and Billy were there with her and getting along, she felt loved and protected. They were too young for her to call her fathers, so she settled for them being her brothers.

Once the section was done, Billy handed her another page from her vocabulary workbook and she focused on that and the soothing conversation that her caretakers were having about Achilles, the Greek hero.

“Ironic that you call him a jerk, when part of your powers come from him,” said Damian.

Billy retorted, “And his memories too. He was such a spoiled brat. It was almost as bad as Solomon.” Cassia didn’t know what they were talking about, but she was pleased that they were not arguing (they did that a lot, Nell just said that they did that because they were really stubborn and really cared about each other).

“Solomon couldn’t have been that bad.”

“I’ll tell you some stuff that I am not even old enough to know.”

_~_~_~

It was the afternoon. The girls were munching on the cookies that Billy promised them that morning. Nell was pleased. Lian and Cassia were dancing too. Damian did not eat many sweets, he did not have a sweet tooth, like his father and unlike his brother Richard. However, on occasion, he enjoyed apple pie.

“Hey, eat this,” said Billy, shoving a plate in his face. Damian was about to snap, until he saw what was on it. “It will not be as a good as Mrs. Kent’s apple pie, but I tried to follow the recipe that she gave me.”

“I miss Kent family dinners, they were the best,” mumbled Damian. Until he was thirteen, Bruce and the rest of his family had been invited over to the Kent farm for Sunday night dinners and of course, holiday feasts.

Since Superman was Billy’s mentor, Billy had been to many Kent family dinners as well. “Me too.”

Damian took a bite of the pie.

Almost perfect.

“It’s good, thanks.”

Billy beamed a big smile.

Damian’s mouth upturned slightly into a small smile.

Then, swallowing his pride, “I am sorry about not wearing the Kevlar, I’ll be more careful.”

“Good, because I don’t want you to lose you too, Damian.”

Silence fell between them as they watched Lian show Cassia how to pirouette and Nell clapped excited as Cassia’s attempt.

Almost perfect.

End

~for now


End file.
